Tim McGraw Defends His Onstage Reaction

When Tim McGraw played Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on Sunday night (July 20), he set aside a few minutes to respond directly to questions about the concert incident from the week before in Atlanta.

As you’re probably aware, he was singing “Truck Yeah”
at the July 13 show in Atlanta when his performance was disrupted by a fan who wouldn’t let go of his jeans. In an amateur video shot at that concert, he’s seen swatting the fan away.

“Sometimes things can lose context and perspective,” he said. “I reacted in an instinctive, defensive way from my perspective of what was going on. I think it was an unfortunate situation, I think, all the way around. But it happened. It happened in a split second. It was pure instinctive reaction. I think you’ve just got to move on.”

He added, “It is one of those things that happen. Nobody feels good about it, but there’s nothing that could be done about it.

“You are in that position, you are out there, you are vulnerable. Things happen,” McGraw said, likely referring to the situation he puts himself in night after night when he walks out onto a narrow catwalk to get closer to the fans.